The Cheese To My Macaroni
by Komaki Nakao
Summary: For Sharlmalfoy's "Juno Quotes" challenge. Victoire discusses her unplanned pregnancy with Dominique, who can never seem to take anything too seriously...


_That little pink plus sign is so unholy,_ Victoire thought, chucking the white strip into the trash can, with so much force that the stout, plastic container shook when the pregnancy test hit its mark. _How could I let this happen? I'm supposed to be the clear-headed one! I'm supposed to be the one who thinks things through first! I'm supposed to be responsible…_

Victoire looked at herself in the freshly-cleaned bathroom mirror. She had yet to take a straightener or a brush to her blonde hair, and her eyes were bloodshot from her latest sleepless night.

"I can't believe it," she said to her reflection. "I'm pregnant. Merlin's pants…"

"Yo yo yiggady yo!" Dominique crooned, making her presence in Victoire's small studio apartment known. Though the younger sister didn't actually _live_ there, she might as well have; Dominique had no problem making herself at home when she visited (which was almost on a daily basis). "Victoire? You here?"

"Yup," Victoire said, putting on a smile as she poked her head out into the kitchen, where Dominique was unloading a plastic sack full of takeout. "I'm here."

"Okay, so I have some bad news," Dominique said, sounding very serious. This was quite unusual; Dominique was usually in good spirits. "Like, it would be friggin' sweet if no one hit me…"

Victoire felt her heart leap into her throat, "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"They only had enough for one tub of mac and cheese," Dominique said, placing it on the tiny table, which was now covered with styrofoam containers. "They said the wait would be twenty minutes, and I was too hungry to stick around for that long."

Victoire sighed with relief, "Never do that to me again! I thought something was seriously wrong there for a second…"

"You looked like you were going to shit your pants," Dominique agreed, grinning with pride and wadding up the sack before she tossed it towards the trash can. As usual, she missed, but made no move to correct her mistake. It took almost every ounce of Victoire's willpower to ignore it and sit down at the wobbly round table.

"I've already had lunch," she said, reaching over to snag the container of macaroni and cheese. "But you know I can't resist this stuff…"

Dominique smirked, "I know."

The two sisters were about as different as night and day. Where Victoire had inherited most of her mother's Veela-features, Dominique took after the Weasley side of the family. She wore her flaming red hair long, and was always doing something outlandish with it; today large portions of it were colored a bright shade of blue. Dominique's wardrobe was dominated with frilly, goth-style clothes, and Victoire usually stuck to something more simplistic.

"So, what have you been up to today?" Victoire asked.

"Oh, not much," Dominique said, with a mouth full of food. She swallowed – much to Victoire's pleasure – before she continued. "I ended playing Quidditch with the boys when I dropped in to see aunt Gin."

"And how'd that go?" Victoire asked, not even half-interested. Her own problems were weighing on her mind so heavily that she couldn't even enjoy her treat. She stirred her macaroni and cheese around with her fork, hooking a few noodles onto the plastic prongs before she took a bite. Delicious, yet unsatisfying in that it couldn't melt this particular problem away.

Dominique scoffed, "I'm going to punch that James kid in the wiener next time I see him. That's all I have to say about it."

Victoire couldn't help but laugh a little, "So… Guess what?"

Dominique bit into a chicken wing, reaching for a napkin to wipe the sauce from her face, "What?"

"I'm pregnant."

Victoire watched her sister intensely, anxious to hear her reaction. Though Dominique may have been her ultimate character foil, she was also one of her dearest friends. Her sister's judgment meant the world to her; it might have been more important than the opinions of her parents.

"It's probably just a food baby," Dominique said simply, shocking Victoire with her lack of concern. "Did you have a big lunch?"

"It isn't a food baby," she said, her voice drenched with frustration. "Jeez, don't you think I'd check before I dumped something like this on you?!"

"Okay, okay!" Dominique said, holding her hands up in surrender. "Did you take the test more than once? Sometimes those muggle contraptions don't always work."

Victoire nodded, "I thought that first one was defective; the plus sign looked more like a division symbol, so I wasn't quite convinced. So this morning, I went out and got a second one… It also came up positive."

Dominique gulped, "So… It is Teddy's, right?"

"Of course it's Teddy's!" Victoire snapped. Her delicate cheeks were starting to glow in an adorable shade of pink; she hadn't told anyone that she and Teddy were sleeping together – and she assumed he was keeping it secret, as well – but she was certain Dominique had already deduced that, even before Victoire had told her the news. Dominique could read her big sister like a book.

Her sister snickered, "Sorry; just wanted to make sure."

"Who else would it belong to?" Victoire asked, that same-old dreamy expression taking over her face as she poked at her food. "Teddy Lupin is like… the cheese to my macaroni, you know?"

Dominique laughed, "Are you _sure_ it isn't a food baby?"

Victoire rolled her eyes, "It isn't a food baby, Dominique!"

"Don't be so rash," Dominique said defensively. "I just wanted to make sure… I mean, this is so unlike you. You're supposed to be the responsible one."

"I _know,_" Victoire groaned, resting her forehead on the edge of the table. "I know…"

Dominique leaned back in her chair, her expression one of pure amazement, "So… This is like… for real? Like, _for real_ for real?"

"Um… yeah," Victoire said. "For real."

"Holy shit…" Dominique muttered, finally sounding shocked.

Victoire smiled a little, "There; that was the kind of emotion I was looking for on the first take."

"Just… wow," the wily redhead said breathlessly. "This is _way_ too edgy to be happening to _you_."

"Regardless, it _is_ happening to me," Victoire mumbled, sitting up so she could nibble at her noodles a little more.

"Does Teddy know?" Dominique asked curiously.

"No," Victoire sighed. "Oh Domino, what am I supposed to _do_?! I can't take care of a baby; look at this dump! No child is going to want to live here…"

"There, there," Dominique said, awkwardly rubbing her sister's back. "It'll be alright… I think…"

"Way to be reassuring," she sobbed into her hands. She had never felt more helpless. For the first time in her life, Victoire didn't have any sort of control over her situation, and that frightened her more than anything. "Teddy's going to be furious; I don't even want to think about what Mum and Dad will say…"

"Can't we kick this old school?" Dominique inquired. "You know, you tell our parents, they threaten Teddy at wandpoint and order him to marry you, and then we ship you lovebirds off to get hitched before you even start showing?"

Victoire couldn't help but chuckle at the suggestion, "That isn't very nice."

"But it gets the job done," she said, smiling at her sister. "And I got you to laugh. See? The situation isn't so hopeless. Besides; Teddy's nuts about you. Maybe this'll get him to quit messing around and put a ring on it, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah…" Victoire whimpered, touching her hand to her stomach. It was strange; now that she knew she was pregnant, she could feel her child's presence, even though it wasn't physically noticeable. It made her feel special, knowing that the tiny baby inside her depended on her completely. "Maybe… I suppose this doesn't have to be a bad thing, does it? I mean, lots of people are having children out of wedlock these days."

"They sure are," Dominique said, sounding quite proud of herself. "Love-children are all the rage these days. Now, can we _please_ finish eating?"

"It sounds to me like _you're_ the one that needs to be worried about food babies," Victoire teased, poking her sister in the stomach.

"Hey now," Dominique said, pointing an accusing finger at Victoire as she returned to her chair. "You'd better be nice to me, or I won't let you name your baby after me."

Victoire snorted, "Yeah, right… I'm sorry, dear sister."

Dominique held her head up proudly, "Apology accepted. Now, may I please have some of those scrumptious noodles you're hoarding over there?"

"Oh, go fly a kite," Victoire jeered, clutching the container protectively. "I'm pregnant; I have to eat for two now, after all."

"So what was your excuse before?" Dominique asked snidely.

Victoire glared at her sister, "… Shut up."


End file.
